The Spanish Consultant (Westerling)

Katy shook her head. ‘No. Let him go, Jago. Please.’

She just wanted him out of the flat so that she could think.

Was Jago really just marrying her to get revenge?

As usual, her father had managed to destroy her fragile happiness with a few well-chosen words.

Jago frowned slightly and turned back to her father, his expression menacing. ‘It is time we got a few things straight.’ His voice was raw and angry and his Spanish accent was more pronounced than usual. ‘I am marrying Katy with or without your approval. Your wishes are of absolutely no interest to us whatsoever. As you quite clearly cannot behave yourself you won’t be invited to the wedding, and in future if you wish to see Katy you can only do so when I’m present.’

Her father gaped at him, stunned that anyone would dare to speak to him like that. ‘You can’t dictate when I see my daughter!’

‘I just did.’ Jago’s eyes were as hard as flint. ‘Understand that the first duty of a Spanish male is to protect the woman he loves. I repeat—you won’t be seeing her unless I am present. Do you understand?’

Loves?

Katy heard the word and clung to it, desperate for any scrap of reassurance that came her way.

‘That’s outrageous.’ Charles struggled against that vicelike grip but Jago refused to release him.

‘No.’ Jago’s voice was ice cold. ‘It’s just the way it’s going to be. Your chauffeur is outside. Better not keep him waiting.’

Her father staggered slightly as Jago released him and made a move to approach Katy, but Jago stepped in front of him, preventing access.

With a last furious grunt her father turned and strode out of the flat, past Libby who’d just returned from work.

Libby flinched as the door crashed shut and she shot Jago an apologetic look.

‘It’s a wonder we’re even vaguely normal, isn’t it?’ she delivered calmly, dropping her bag on the floor and strolling into the kitchen. ‘Always such a pleasure to have a visit from one’s parents.’

Katy sank down on one of the kitchen chairs, her legs still shaking.

‘He said that we’re in the papers. Someone took a picture of us together when we stopped to help that girl.’ She looked at Jago blankly. ‘I didn’t even notice anyone.’

‘That’s always the trouble with the paparazzi,’ Libby grumbled, reaching into the cupboard for a jar of peanut butter. ‘If you don’t notice them you can never give them your good side. Not that you have anything but a good side, it has to be said. I just hope you didn’t damage my favourite shoes when you were performing heroics in the hot dust of Spain.’

Katy looked at her sister in exasperation and then laughed. Trust Libby to inject a bit of frivolity into the proceedings. ‘Your shoes are back in your dressing room.’

‘Phew. I can breathe again.’ Libby smiled happily and started to eat peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon. ‘I’m going to my room to watch something mindless. Night.’

Katy watched her go, aware that she hadn’t even told Libby her news. All day she’d been bursting to tell her and then suddenly the bubble of excitement had burst. Thanks to her father.

Suddenly aware that Jago was watching her with an ominous frown, she stirred. ‘I’m glad you arrived when you did,’ she said quietly, and he tensed still further.

‘Would he have hit you?’ he demanded rawly. ‘Has he ever hit you?’

Katy hesitated. ‘Once,’ she said finally. ‘When I was a child.’

Jago’s fists tightened, his fury unconcealed. ‘What happened?’

‘Alex hit him with a cricket bat,’ Katy muttered, hating to remember those days. ‘And Libby called the police.’

Jago threw back his head and laughed. ‘You three do stick together, don’t you?’

Katy nodded and gave a slight smile. ‘He never, ever tried it again but he often came close, particularly when he drank too much. Which he did frequently.’ She stared at her hands. ‘The truth is that he found other, more clever methods of intimidating us.’

Jago frowned. ‘Answer me something else…’ He hesitated, running a hand over the back of his neck as he braced himself to ask the question. ‘Was he the reason you lost the baby? Libby said that you fell.’

‘It was my fault,’ Katy said quickly. ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going and I fell down the stairs.’